ABOUT US: 

Transition Community Initiative Philippines (TCIP), Inc. or “Kaya Natin Magbago Pag Sama-sama” is a social enterprise network dedicated to assist transition initiatives confronting food, financial, climate and energy crises, focusing on links between the social and natural environments, skills retooling, and people’s development in the context of sustainability and social justice. We are based in Quezon City, Metro Manila and work country wide.

 TCIP is a movement to facilitate urban farming and permaculture practices in the Philippines.  We work to address the lack of fresh and organic produce, and inadequate resources and support for permaculture practices.  We research and develop best practices, design gardens and garden products, host gardening workshops and work in partnership with NGOs and individuals to set up urban gardens and farms across the Philippines. We are now working in five localities in Nueva Ecija Province, and in Dingalan town in Aurora Province. Our latest initiative, the subject of this Proposal, is an urban farming and social development project in partnership with a community housing association in the heart of Quezon City, Metro Manila.

Photos of some of TCIP’s projects:

THE CHALLENGE: 

The Bagong Lipunan Pag-asa Condominium Community (BLPC Community) is a tight-knit community lying minutes away (by foot) from SM-Shopping Mall, Trinoma, and the Rapid Transit Station, in Metro-Manila.

We want to transform a minimum of 5,000 sqft of the unused land of the Bagong Lipunan Pag-asa condominium into an exemplar urban farm and community space.  The project is located in a middle income, mixed-use condominium complex in a very busy area of Quezon City, Metro-Manila.  There is no source for organic produce in this extremely dense urban area.  We hope that by showing it is possible to grow food in a densely urbanized area with limited resources we will inspire others to start growing (some of) their own food in the underutilized spaces that surround them.

The rationale for the project is based on the premise that environment and socio-economic issues are closely interlinked and that one can be tackled with the aid of the other. Urban Agriculture by itself is a very beneficial activity. It improves the quality of health and environment in the city by providing locally produced organic food which is otherwise transported from long distances using precious fossil fuels generating greenhouse gases and pollution. Urban agriculture also adds to the urban greenery, reduceing the paved surface of the city, and improving the visual and psychological conditions for residents.

Among the poorest and most exploited residents of the city are street children, who are normally looked upon by urban dwellers as vagabonds and trouble-makers, but in fact are highly talented. Having to fend for themselves and survive in a megacity, their creative instincts are better trained than children who are taken care of by the family. It is these latent creative abilities that need to be tapped in order to help them become productive, economically independent and free from exploitation in society.

We have connected with local NGOs working with street children in order to create workshops and urban gardening programs for them at the BLPC Community urban farms. This will allow them to gain training on urban farming and business management skills by growing and selling their own produce at the local farmers’ market.

The project would be a unique experiment in socio-economic and environmental management of resources in a community. In many ways, it is unprecedented and will form a model for cities all over the subcontinent.

PHOTOS and MAPS of the BLPC proposed Community Urban Farming Project:

The Urban Farm will:

• Grow organic fruits, herbs and vegetables
• Compost kitchen waste
• Sell produce through the community grocery store/ create a community farmers market
• Host workshops to educate and expose city dwellers to the possibilities of urban farming and train urban farmers
• Host workshops for street children in order to provide farming and business skills training.
• Research, design and develop best practices for urban farming
• Serve as an outdoor community and activity space (such as yoga and dance classes) for building residents, street children and the neighborhood as a whole
• Establish working arrangements between the land and building owners and their Association (BLPC), the street children as urban farm workers, managers, and food consumers, commercial marketing of the produce, and TCIP and the street children NGOs who will guide the project.

THE QUESTIONS:  How much food can we grow on 5,000 sqft of urban land space?  How many people will this feed?  How many jobs will this create?  How financially feasible is it (in Manila) to convert urban space into community farms? What are the minimum and optimal areas for an urban farm project? What other actors (Local Governments, businesses, churches etc can be mobilized to support and provide access to land for extending urban farming in Metro-Manila? TCIP plans to develop a model that others can replicate and will share all information and findings on our website and publications.

FUNDING:

The $7,000 budgeted will be used to cover the costs of:

• Soil and potting mix
• Seedlings and fruit trees
• Growing containers
• 2 shade structures made from natural materials (materials and labor)
• Vertical garden structure (materials and labor)
• Tables and seating (refurbished second-hand pieces)
• Composting Unit
• Tool Shed (made of discarded building materials)
• Basic gardening tools and drums for storage
• Undertaking the design and management of the Project, and research.

Any additional funds raised will go towards:

Expansion of the urban farms, creation of a soil making station, expand the composting unit, start urban bee keeping and begin our gardener training program for street children and neighborhood members.

WHY MANILA:  Metro- Manila is the largest and most densely populated city in the Philippines.  As the city grows in size and population, open spaces and farmable land disappear.  Access to quality, nutrient-rich and fresh food is an ever-growing problem for all residents, especially the city's poor.  Average food prices are rapidly increasing.  Produce travels about 5 days before it reaches markets and approximately 40% of produce is lost from farm to table.  Because of this, produce is often harvested before it is ripe to prevent spoiling, and harmful chemicals such as Ethylene and Ethephon are used to artificially ripen it.  Both these chemicals are known to cause neurological damage.

In the Philippines, urban children are more likely to be malnourished than children in rural areas.  This is due to a number of factors, one of which is the unavailability of fresh produce that contains proper nutritional content.

Growing food locally, in the large areas of useable space in urban Manila (waste land and unused plots, flat open rooftops and terraces) can begin to address the problem of lack of access, due to affordability and availability, of quality produce.  Additionally, transport time and costs are drastically reduced, and little to no energy resources or packaging is needed to store produce from the time it is harvested to sold.  Urban agriculture also holds the potential to raise awareness about organic food growing practices, healthy eating habits, and provides beautiful, green outdoor spaces for city dwellers to enjoy. 

Finally, the large urban population of Metro-Manila (almost 12 million), and the increasing awareness of its population to proper nutrition and fresh, quality food, provides an enormous market in immediate proximity to the urban farm producers.

THE TCIP TEAM:  Gwyneth Williams, Dhanuka Buddhakorala, Julie Viloria, David Williams and numerous volunteers.

We thank you for your support and are incredibly grateful for your help in making this project possible!

To learn more check out our website:

http://tciphilippines.org/